Focused Agenda Block
Focused, excerpted Read in 3 minutes
"Jane Fonda On the Climate Crisis, Getting Arrested and Five Decades of Activism
... The first thing Jane Fonda says to me after I sit down across from her in the lobby of a plush Manhattan hotel is, “What’s with the guillotine?”
I look down. One of my tattoos is peeking out from under my short-sleeve shirt, and she’s noticed. As I explain that it signifies certain... opinions... I hold about the ruling class, she interrupts me: “You mean the billionaires and the politicians they’ve bought who are destroying peoples’ lives?” I nod.
“Then I’m with you.”
... She’s currently riding a new wave of name recognition among millennials, thanks to her hit Netflix series, Grace and Frankie,
and making headlines for her weekly “Fire Drill Fridays” climate protests in Washington, D.C., but
Fonda has been on the front lines of social justice for longer than most people reading this have been alive.
Her current focus is twofold:
Draw attention to the climate crisis, and engage working class voters via her involvement with Working America, a workers’ organization that advocates for progressive policy issues (she’s also on the board of directors).
... Fonda's five decades of activism stretch back to Paris, in 1968, a year of global civil unrest, widespread anti-capitalist protests, and a massive general strike that brought France to a standstill.
Miles away, the Vietnam war raged, and a pregnant Fonda, confined to her home on bed rest, spent her days watching TV.
“I saw the great march on the Pentagon, and all these tens of thousands of people,” she says.
“And then I saw the Tet Offensive, and I said,
‘I’m in the wrong place. I shouldn’t be here.’”
She began her political education in earnest soon after.
“[French feminist philosopher] Simone de Beauvoir was the one I went to, because I knew that she had protested the French colonization of Vietnam,” Fonda explains. “So I went to her for the history."
Fonda also made friends with some dissenting American soldiers who had fled the States to take refuge in Paris. One of them became a close friend, and gave her a copy of Jonathan Schnell’s The Village of Ben Suc, which tells the story of a small Vietnamese farming village razed to the ground by invading American soldiers.
“When I read it, I was shaken to my core,” Fonda says.
She became deeply involved in the anti-war movement and was extremely critical of U.S. tactics, like bombing civilian targets.
A visit to North Vietnam and a photo of her sitting atop an anti-aircraft gun earned her the scornful nickname “Hanoi Jane,” which followed her for years (and was rekindled by former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, in 2018, on her NBC show Megyn Kelly Today).
Even as Fonda's Hollywood star rose and she cofounded her own production company, IPC Films, and built a fitness empire, she continued to use her celebrity to raise awareness of the broader radical struggles she was involved with, including feminism, Palestinian solidarity, supporting LGBTQ youth, and the labor movement.
Beginning in 1969, Fonda became involved with the Indigenous rights movement, and took part in the nearly two-year occupation of Alcatraz (decades later, in 2016, she stood with the water protectors at Standing Rock).
In the early 1970s, she supported the Black Panthers, describing them as “our revolutionary vanguard” and visiting Angela Davis at the Marin County Jail in 1971; Fonda’s adopted daughter, Mary Williams, was born to two Black Panther party members.
Due to her connection with the party, Fonda was placed under government surveillance, and singled out as a target by notorious FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.
Fonda's weekly arrests in D.C. are old hat for someone whose mug shot became a revered piece of feminist iconography,
and her vocal support for the Green New Deal makes total sense for someone born in the shadow of FDR’s original New Deal.
As activist and writer Brittany Packnett Cunningham recently noted on Twitter, Fonda is an excellent example of how to “spend your privilege,” a concept Cunningham outlined in a 2018 essay for the Cut.
Whether or not Fonda has read that essay, she exemplifies its message:
If you’re born with unearned advantages, you’d damn-well better use them to fight alongside those who weren’t, for everyone’s liberation.
... It’s fitting that Fonda has thrown her considerable institutional power behind the current effort to save the world,
and is following the lead of youth activists.
As she said decades ago,
“Revolution is an act of love.
We are the children of revolution, born to be rebels.
It runs in our blood.”
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Teen Vogue: What are you reading now, and how has that inspired your current involvement with Working America?
Jane Fonda: Naomi Klein’s new book, [On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal]; I’ve read everything she’s written. She’s had a huge influence on me. I’m moving to D.C. because of that book, because of how she wrote about Greta [Thunberg], which just really got to me. There’s two key things now: getting the right person elected — I should say ‘persons,’ down ticket, governors, state legislators, Senate, Congress — but the top dog has to be the right person. ...
TV: In the ‘60s, when you were supporting the Black Panthers and heavily involved in the anti-war movement, you came under government surveillance; decades later, we’re all living under surveillance all the time. How do your thoughts on that experience line up with how things are now, when everyone — especially people who are more public-facing — is under a microscope?
JF: Don’t let ‘em get to ya. They picked the wrong person when they went after me, and it was on every level — bank accounts were taken [and my mail was opened].
But then also, I’d go stand in a line for something and someone would be standing right in front of me, and they’d have a patch right on the back of their jean jacket: "Jane Fonda [draws finger across throat]."
I mean, it was everywhere, and every time it happened, I was just digging in my heels.
I was so conscious of the fact that [as a] privileged white woman, Henry Fonda’s daughter, they think I’m gonna be a wimp: "F**k you! You’ll have to kill me.
... So it just made me more determined, and I hope that anyone who feels that they are being surveilled or harassed feels the same way.
TV: That’s excellent advice, especially now that so many people are voicing dissent against the current administration. ... "
JF: I understand why, right now, it’s very easy for people to feel like it’s all gonna be over anyway, so why not just lead a hedonistic life or tune out.
But you know what that leads to? Alienation.
I have been rock bottom in my life as an activist — so down that I could barely talk.
Greta, when she had been studying climate change and she saw this locomotive heading at her, and she looked around and saw that people weren’t reacting appropriately, she was traumatized into stopping eating, right?
[Earlier this year, in an interview with Teen Vogue, Thunberg attributed this to depression.]
For a year, she was really sick, and you know what got her out of it? Seeing what the Parkland students in Florida were doing. And the minute she started doing something, her trauma lifted.
TV: Saving the world as self-care.
JF: Heeding the call! And look, [from] Parkland to Greta to the student strike, there’s this ripple effect coming from youth now that is unprecedented, and it’s shaking things up, and it’s having a huge effect. ...
TV: ...How do we specifically use our privilege as white women to talk to other people like us, and help them to realize that the patriarchy isn’t going to save them, and we need to embrace a broad multiracial, multigender movement, or we’re all screwed?
JF: It’s kind of like alcoholism — there’s a whole lot of people that don’t wake up until they’ve hit bottom. But we’re kind of hitting bottom now, and so I think more and more people are looking around and saying, "Holy fuck, what is going on?" — on every level.
It’s not just the climate crisis; it’s an empathy crisis.
The ecosystem is unraveling, but the social fabric of our country is unraveling too, and people know it. If you can help people in a nonthreatening, nonjudgmental way to understand what is really going on, [and] when you explain to people who their real enemy is, and be very concrete about it, I think people get it.
And because we’re in such trouble — serious, civilization-threatening trouble — I think people are much more open to listening.
TV: You are from a privileged Hollywood background, so where does your class consciousness come from?
JF: Look at the movies that I grew up on: The Grapes of Wrath, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Wrong Man, 12 Angry Men. My dad [actor Henry Fonda] didn’t talk to me much about anything, but I knew what his values were. I knew the characters that set him on fire, and I understood why.
I only saw him cry twice in my life; the first time I was about five or six years old, and he didn’t know that I could see. I saw him in his garden leaning on his hoe, weeping, and I found out that was the day that FDR died. He thought that much of FDR, and those are the things, as a child, that become part of your DNA.
And I didn’t act on it for a long time.
I realized that my celebrity and my privilege stood in the way, and so for a long time I really just wanted to disappear into the working class demography.
I spent time in Detroit going to [United Auto Workers] meetings with women organizers who were organizing women auto workers, and I would sit in the back and listen to the women talking.
It was the best thing that ever happened to me, because for me it was very, very important in my activism to be right there on the ground with the people who were at the front lines, as people who were not privileged.
And also, it’s so evident to me what the powers that be — the ruling class, the billionaires, and the politicians they’ve bought off with their dog-whistle politics — how important it is that they keep us all separated.
From centuries ago, every time working class white people and Black people and other people of color came together, it was the big "Oh, my God!”
Because that’s how we’re gonna change things...
And that’s the message that we have to get out there; not to call people racist, but to say, "This is happening to you because they don’t want you to notice who’s really got their hand in your pocket."
TV: It goes to show that privilege can be used as a shield, but it can also be used as a weapon.
JF: In 1970 I became friends with a lawyer named Ken Cockrel. He took me under his wing a lot and tried to educate me; I was brand-new to activism. One day, I had been traveling around the country and stopped in Detroit to see him, and I said to him, "Ken, I think I’m going to leave Hollywood. I don’t want to be part of it. It separates me from people. I want to be an organizer."
And he said, "Fonda, the movement has many organizers; we don’t have movie stars. You not only have to stay in your profession, but you have to pay more attention to the movies you make," and that’s when I began to make my own movies.
Now that I have a hit TV series at my back, I can see how different activism is. People used to pull my hair out by the roots, and now, most of the time, people don’t know who I am when I go door-to-door. When they do, it’s all friendly — "Oh, my God, I love your show! Harry, come here! Look who’s here!""
Focused Thought share in 30 seconds
Focused Action in 30 seconds
Focused, excerpted Point of Interest in 2 minutes
"Supermajority: A New Home For Women’s Activism
A record number of women ran for and were elected to political office in the 2018 midterm elections, but the numbers still don’t reflect the U.S. population.
Founders Ai-jen Poo, Alicia Garza and Cecile Richards stopped by Reset to talk about Supermajority, a new women’s advocacy organization working to mobilize millions of women into political action ahead of 2020...
Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood: There has been this incredible explosion of energy of women all across the country that started with the women's march, of course, right after the inauguration, but that fire hasn't gone out. And I think on every issue, whether it's public education, whether it's family separation, whether it's defending access to reproductive health care, women are on fire.
And I feel like Ai-Jen and Alicia and I are constantly running into women who are saying, “Look, I've never been involved before as an advocate, even in politics, but I want to do more,” and it seemed like a perfect time to launch Supermajority.
And what we found since we launched last spring is that there are women everywhere, all over the country, who really want to play a role in changing the direction on so many issues that we're confronted with.
On building an intersectional movement
Ai-jen Poo, co-founder and executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance: When you think about bringing women together across race, age, class and experience, it is an incredibly powerful force. … We're the majority of the electorate … and yet we've never fully been able to harness that power to achieve true equality. ... We're still treated as a special interest group, right?
In many ways, our [are] issues sidelined and treated as kind of minority or narrow self-interest groups or issues, and so the way to really unlock this potential power is really to build that connection and that home for all of us across all of these different experiences. And what we found is that that is exactly what women want, regardless of the community that you go into.
Alicia Garza, Black Lives Matter co-founder and principal at Black Futures Lab: Just like women are not a monolith, black people are not a monolith. ... One of the things I'm so excited about in relationship to Supermajority is that we really do take the time to better understand what women are experiencing across a number of different positions in their lives.
We all know that, for example, black women are impacted by the wage gap in different ways than white women or Latinx women.
But yet, if we have some clarity around where those things are different, we can actually come up with better policy and better practice together about how to not leave anybody behind.
And that's really what intersectionality is about, and that's very much what Supermajority is about.
On looking toward 2020
Richards: This is a moment, I think, for women to realize their power, realize the power of women standing with other women on the issues that we care about and that do unite us.
So to me, having a November 2020 be the year that women actually band together and vote together, it’ll determine not only what happens in 2020, but I think for the next century in this country.
Garza: I think success for me looks like in 2020 that women have had the final say. I think a lot of us feel like 2016, we were robbed of our shot. So in 2020, I really want us to feel like there has been a rematch and that women prevailed.
Poo: To me, we're in this moment where it's not even just about getting a little bit more of our share of the existing pie. We really do want to rewrite the rules fundamentally. … We actually want equality on our terms, in our values in a way that's truly reflective of who we are and what we deserve in this country. ... "
Focused Monthly Inspiration
( #itsNovember2020Now )
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THE next Democratic Party 2020 Presidential Nomination Debate will be held Wednesday, November 20, 2019. You can find more information on all of the debates here
And the best candidate for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination is Kamala Harris, IMO...
* Kamala is the only candidate for the Democratic Party Presidential 2020 Nomination who grasps that 100's of 1000' of the American People are drowning and need economic relief -- NOW. That is what her 3 A.M. Agenda addresses, an urgent response to People in distress you can read the Agenda here
And you can find more information on her website here
You can follow her on facebook here
You can follow her on Twitter here
You can follow her on Instagram here
** In its effort to provide more accessibility to grassroots Democrats in determining who the Democratic Party Nominee will be, key Democratic Party criteria for being present on the Primary Debate Stage is based on the candidate's commitment to being a Democrat and to meeting increasing levels of small donors and poll numbers provided by a select number of reputable pollsters, both being reflective of increasing grassroots support for going forward.
So:
1. You can donate to my official Kamala Harris link here
(The link is shared by my co-founder and me of The People For Kamala Harris on Facebook.)
2. You can respond to major polls in favor of Kamala!
So:
(The link is shared by my co-founder and me of The People For Kamala Harris on Facebook.)
( And, you can find more information on the 5th DNC Debate criteria here )
→ Some of my favorite Direct sources & resources for Democrats:
* ( My personal favored and most informative follows are also shared here, below, with the understanding that readers will always apply their own critical thinking to any information provided anywhere by anyone. #StrongerTogether does not share sources of information lightly but -- no one is perfect! -- so always #DistrustAndVerify -- even if it's me. I am using a "star" rating that is strictly based on my situational experience with the work of the media personality specifically in relation to issues of interest to me. )
Democratic Party Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, representative of The People at home & abroad while the President of the United States is MIA...
There is no better way to get your information than to #Go2TheSource
You can find the Speaker's website here
You can find the Speaker's Twitter feed here
You can find the Speaker's Facebook Page here
The Democratic Party Website
Also, NOT exactly a Democratic Party specific source under a GOP majority but a good place to hear and to watch speeches & hearings directly, i.e. #Go2TheSource C-SPAN
+
→ Some of my favorite, most active organizations:
NEW! NEW! NEW!
Michelle Obama's initiative ...
"Who We Are
When We All Vote is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that is on a mission to increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap by changing the culture around voting, harnessing grassroots energy, and through strategic partnerships to reach every American.
Launched in 2018 by co-chairs Michelle Obama, Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monae, Chris Paul, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, When We All Vote is changing the culture around voting using a data-driven and multifaceted approach to increase participation in elections.
In the months directly before the 2018 midterm elections, When We All Vote organized 2,500 local voter registration events across the country, engaged 200 million Americans online about the significance of voting, and texted nearly four million voters the resources to register and get out to vote.
And we’re just getting started. We’re helping bring even more people into the voting process because when we all vote, we all do better. ... "
"Mission: National Security Action is dedicated to advancing American global leadership and opposing the reckless policies of the Trump administration that endanger our national security and undermine U.S. strength in the world. ... "
You can learn more here
(Full disclosure, I am a member!)
"Women are already the majority. Now Let's build a Supermajority.
Women are on the cusp of becoming the most powerful force in America. But to fundamentally transform this country, we need to work together. That’s where Supermajority comes in.
LET’S GET ORGANIZED
We’re building an inclusive, national membership of women who are connected, empowered, and taking action—from increasing their level of civic engagement and advocacy to voting in record numbers.
"Meet the people behind the politicians.
You can email your two Senators and your Representative in Congress in one email here
"Postcards to Voters are friendly, handwritten reminders from volunteers to targeted voters giving Democrats a winning edge in close, key races coast to coast.
What started on March 11, 2017 with sharing 5 addresses apiece to 5 volunteers on Facebook...
Now, we consist of over 20,000+ volunteers in every state (including Alaska and Hawaii) who have written close to 3 million postcards to voters in over 100+ key, close elections."
You can find Postcards to Voters here
Town Hall Project empowers constituents across the country to have face-to-face conversations with their elected representatives. We are campaign veterans and first time volunteers. We come from a diversity of backgrounds and live across the country. We share progressive values and believe strongly in civic engagement. We research every district and state for public events with members of Congress. Then we share our findings to promote participation in the democratic process.
This movement is diverse, open source, and powered by citizens. We are proud to be a part of it.
You can find Town Hall Project here
" Born from conversations between Governor Howard Dean and Secretary Hillary Clinton in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Onward Together was established to lend support to leaders — particularly young leaders — kicking off projects and founding new organizations to fight for our shared progressive values." here
Organizing for America and the Democratic National Redistricting Committee have merged in "All On The Line":
"Barack Obama Throws All His Weight Behind ‘Issue Of Singular Importance’
" Since #StandOnEveryCorner has grown, it’s become a stand by all of us to protect our democracy from corruption and treason...A stand not at your State Capitol, but in your own backyard. Not once every few months, but as often as you can here "
→ Fact checking organizations courtesy of the Society of Professional Journalists
in alphabetical order...
→ Some of my favorite, most informative
follows on Twitter include:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ US Intelligence | Author | Navy Senior Chief | NBC/MSNBC
⭐⭐⭐ Federal Government Operations | Vanity Fair | Newsweek | MSNBC Contributor | Author
⭐⭐⭐⭐ NBC News' chief foreign correspondent
⭐⭐ Foreign correspondent for @MSNBC and @NBCNews based in London
→ Some of my favorite, highly credible media -- at the moment:
→ Some of my favorite Talking Heads -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:
→ Some of my favorite media panelists -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:
✅✅✅✅✅ Wendy Sherman Director, Harvard Center for Public Leadership and Professor of Practice, Kennedy School Senior Counselor
Albright Stonebridge Group; Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs
✅✅✅ Jonathan Lemire White House reporter for AP; Political analyst for MSNBC & @NBCNews
✅✅✅✅ Joan Walsh national affairs correspondent for The Nation; CNN political contributor
✅✅✅ Heidi Przybyla USA TODAY Senior Political Reporter
✅✅✅✅ Jennifer Rubin Conservative blogger at @ WashingtonPost's Right Turn,MSNBC contributor
Intel community. @ NBCNews/@ MSNBC contributor
✅✅✅✅ Betsy WoodruffSwan Daily Beast reporter, federal law enforcement.
→ Some of my favorite legal analysts in the context of Putin attacked America to install Trump investigations, primarily seen on MSNBC:
🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ Katie Phang
🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ Glenn Kirschner
🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ Mimi Roacha
🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ Midwin Charles
🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ Glenn Kirschner
🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ Mimi Roacha
🗒️ 🗒️ 🗒️ Midwin Charles
→ Some of my favorite Democrat Party Leaders to follow on Twitter, not in elected office but proving knowledge & experience are positives & not negatives are:
Former First Lady Michelle Obama
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Former Labor Secretary/Today's DNC Chair Tom Perez
Note: I rarely get involved in primary races -- outside of those in my own area and unless there is a glaring reason that can not be ignored, I support Democratic Party nominees in general elections. I don't support bashing Democrats.
→ PARTY Informational
(Full disclosure, I am a life-long, registered Democrat!)
"To Whom It May Concern: By authority of the Democratic National Committee, the National Convention of the Democratic Party is hereby scheduled to convene on July 13-16, 2020 in TBD at an hour to be announced, to select nominees for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States of America, to adopt and promulgate a platform and to take such other actions with respect to such other matters as the Convention may deem advisable. ... "
"PREAMBLE We, the Democrats of the United States of America, united in common purpose, hereby rededicate ourselves to the principles which have historically sustained our Party. Recognizing that the vitality of the Nation's political institutions has been the foundation of its enduring strength, we acknowledge that a political party which wishes to lead must listen to those it would lead, a party which asks for the people's trust must prove that it trusts the people and a party which hopes to call forth the best the Nation can achieve must embody the best of the Nation's heritage and traditions. What we seek for our Nation, we hope for all people: individual freedom in the framework of a just society, political freedom in the framework of meaningful participation by all citizens. Bound by the United States Constitution, aware that a party must be responsive to be worthy of responsibility, we pledge ourselves to open, honest endeavor and to the conduct of public affairs in a manner worthy of a society of free people. Under God, and for these ends and upon these principles, we do establish and adopt this Charter of the Democratic Party of the United States of America."
What is the CPD? The Commission on Presidential Debates (the “CPD”) is a private, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization. As a 501(c)(3) organization, it is eligible under federal law so serve as a debate sponsor. The CPD's primary mission is to ensure, for the benefit of the American electorate, that general election debates are held every four years between and among the leading candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United State. The CPD is an independent organization. It is not controlled by any political party or outside organization and it does not endorse, support, or oppose political candidates for parties. It receives no funding from the government or any political party, political actions committee or candidate. The CPD has sponsored general election presidential debates in every election since 1988. Although its plans for 2020 are in the developmental stage, it looks forward to bringing high quality, educational debates to the electorate in 2020 ...
You can read more here
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(Linked) "...is our 2016 platform...a declaration of how we plan to move America forward. Democrats believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.
It’s a simple but powerful idea: We are stronger together."
Owned, Created and Curated by Gail Mountain, this blog curates is often gently edits and/or excerpts select material for quick reading, with occasional personal commentary in the form of the written word and/or in the form of emphasis noted. Network For #StrongerTogether ! is not affiliated with The Democratic Party. in any capacity. This is an independent blog and the hope is you will, at a glance, learn more about the Party and you will, with a click or two, also take action on its behalf as it is provided!
( * As a privately owned blog, I reserve the right to edit or remove inappropriate comments such as hate, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, anti-Semitism, spam, advertising or personal/abusive attacks on other users.)
A long time Democratic Party activist, Gail Mountain is a former community organizer, journalist & personal planning coach with a focus on single moms working toward careers able to support them & their families, while working toward changing the systems that once served them through leadership training. She is a former Affordable Health Care for America Act advocate (2009!); a Hillary supporter who volunteered as a Grassroots Tweeter for Hillary, a Women's Outreach for Hillary member; an OFA Truth Team member; & a DNC Factivist member...currently a media influencer, digital activist/strategist, blogger and head of curation, editor and co-Founder of The People for Kamala Harris; an editor for Progress for Democrats on Facebook; a member of a closed group supporting Speaker Pelosi & her agenda, a member of Supermajority and a volunteer for Kamala Harris for the 2020 Democratic Party Nomination for President of the United States.
You can follow her Blog
at https://networkstrongertogether.blogspot.com & you can follow her on Twitter at GKMTNtwits
( find her on Twitter
*** Sometimes life gets in the way, and it has for me right now, delaying the release of my updated ebook but "How to Influence Media in Real Time!"is coming soon and in time to begin your conversation with media as we head into serious primary season.
What's in the book?:
( My updated ebook, "How to Influence Media in Real Time," will be ready soon. It will include updated examples of the conversations I have with some of my “media friends” and some updated indications that media can hear us! If you have left a donation toward my effort to help Democrats win in 2020, I will send you an updated copy as soon as it is ready. New donors who leaves a name and an email on my GoFundMe Page will get one as soon as it is ready to go! Thanking you in advance for your interest. I hope you will join me in helping media be the best they can be -- by being a media influencer, too, in your own way and at your own pace. )
*
See the League of Women Voters website:
*
...for Networking for Democrats today!
g. (Unapologetic Democrat)
✊ Resisting "Fake News"
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